A Prompt for When You’re Stuck: Give Your Character the Microphone

Often if we’re stuck on a piece of writing it’s because we’re tamping down some essential voice that is screaming (or whispering urgently) to get out. It’s useful to just allow that character to talk. So today I’d like you to write a MONOLOGUE. You may quickly set the scene for this monologue, but I want the bulk of your flash to be one person talking to an audience of one or more. Approach this any way you like. Your character may be a space alien or an animal or a child or a potato chip. Just give them the floor, the microphone, the podium, the flashlight around the campfire.

Examples of monologues:

Your character wants to make a case for something.

Your character wants to rally the troops against an enemy.

Your character wants to profess her love (or her hate).

Your character wants to defend herself.

Your character has a bone to pick.

Your character goes on a rant.

Your character wants a job.

Your character is simply telling a fascinating story.

Does this monologue qualify as a story? Remember my three essentials to flash fiction: Emotion, Movement, and Resonance. How you get there doesn’t much matter as long as you demonstrate these three. Write quickly without judgment and you will soon have a fresh draft that may surprise you!

Aim for 500 words or fewer! Go!

For inspiration here’s a great one, Charlie Chaplin from The Great Dictator: